The present invention relates generally to optical connector, and, more specifically, to an connector having a ferrule.
Optical connectors find use in a wide variety of applications, for example, in telecommunication networks, as vehicles for facilitating the optical coupling of fibers. Many conventional connectors facilitate such coupling by bringing the ends of fibers to be coupled into direct physical contact.
To effect such direct contact, however, conventional connectors typically require polished ferrules. Unpolished ferrules have a geometry on their mating face which make it difficult, if not impossible, to bring the end faces of fibers housed therein into physical contact with the end faces of mating fibers. In addition, when multiple fibers are affixed to an unpolished ferrule, the positions of the fiber ends tend to vary along the mating axis, thereby making it difficult to effect optical coupling with all of the fibers. Polishing the mating face tends to overcome these problems and provide sufficient optical coupling of fibers housed therein. Furthermore, to enhance optical coupling, gels may be used to coat the mating face of the ferrules and eliminate air gaps between the ferrules. Unfortunately, polishing connectors tends to be time consuming and costly, and gels are messy and tend to accumulate dust and dirt.
Therefore, there is a need to effect optical couplings while avoiding the above-mentioned problems. The present invention fulfills this need among others.
The present invention overcomes the problems of the prior art by applying a compliant film to the mating face of a connector ferrule to provide a gap-filling medium through which the fibers may be optically coupled to mating optical pathways. The applied film provides an outer surface having a geometry suitable for mating with a wide range of mating surfaces. The film also accommodates for anomalies present on the ferrule mating face and fills the gaps between the end faces of the fibers and the outer surface of the film. Accordingly, the present invention provides an optical connector which allows unpolished ferrules to be mated without sacrificing optical performance.
One aspect of the present invention is an optical connector comprising a ferrule having an unpolished mating face and defining a fiber bore, at least one fiber contained within the ferrule such that an end face of the fiber is presented at said mating face, and a film having an outer surface, the film being disposed on the ferrule mating face such that any air gap between the outer surface of the film and the end face of the fiber is essentially eliminated, and the outer surface being suitable for mating with a mating structure such that the fiber is optically coupled with a mating optical pathway in a mating structure.
Another aspect is a mated assembly comprising an optical connector comprising a ferrule having an unpolished mating face and defining a fiber bore, at least one fiber contained within the ferrule such that an end face of the fiber is presented at said mating face, and a film having an outer surface, the film being disposed on the ferrule mating face such that any air gap between the outer surface of the film and the end face of the fiber is essentially eliminated, the outer surface being suitable for mating with a mating structure such that the fiber is optically coupled with a mating optical pathway in a mating structure, and a mating structure comprising at least a second mating face presenting an end of at least one optical pathway therein, the at least one fiber and said at least one wave guide being optically coupled.
Yet another aspect is a method for producing an optical connector comprising providing a ferrule having an unpolished mating face and defining a fiber bore providing a compliant film having an outer surface, and applying the compliant film to the mating face of the ferrule such that the film accommodates one or more features of an unpolished ferrule while the outer surface remains suitable for mating with a mating structure